A Reliance Agreement is a formal, written document that provides a mechanism for an institution engaged in research to delegate institutional review board (IRB) review to an independent IRB or an IRB of another institution. Institutions may use different descriptive terms, e.g., reliance agreement, cooperative agreement or IRB authorization agreement (IAA). Agreements may cover single studies, categories of studies, or all human subjects research under an organization’s Federalwide Assurance (FWA).